The Far Side Fray
by DragonShuck
Summary: It finally all comes crashing down. The Storm Hawks realize every thing they went through. They have barely survived their side of the atmos at times so do they have what it takes to even keep alive on the Far Side? What they went through is almost nothing compared to what they are about to go through!
1. Chapter 1

Storm Hawks

The Far Side Fray

Chapter 1

**We Are Left to Wonder**

"The storm Hawks, sure they were young, often seen as only little kids but they sure left a big mark and raised hope again when all was lost. They made up for their age by their bravery. Apart from their age, they were everything the original Storm Hawks were and before they left, they also earned the same respect.

Now? Who knows what happened to them. They just left. No one knows if they are to return one day. When they do, if they do, we shall welcome them not as sky nights but as heroes of the sky!" a purple haired sky knight finished her speech as the crowd cheered with the hope that was given to them by these heroes of the sky. The Storm Hawks flag proudly waving in the wind behind them was kept up as a symbol of their newfound hope. "That famous blue hawk…" Starling trailed off in her mind as she watched the warrior blue insignia flowing. "They'll come back" caught off guard by the voice and a soft hand on her shoulder, she turned around. It was Dove, calm yet confidently looking at the blue hawk. "They always did," She continued. Her and Starling spent the next moment just gazing at the flag and the setting skies behind it. It was all up to them now.

The fallowing morning, Starling made her way to the Interceptors' memorial terra bringing with her a small, brown leather book. It was a journal actually. Yes, Starling, the lone wolf sky night with an "I don't need friends" attitude had a journal.

"It has been exactly a week now that the Storm Hawks left us to wonder. I wonder how are they? How is it like? What are they up to this very minute? But one thing I won't dare ask is, are they still alive? I know they are! If they made it that far, it wasn't for nothing. Now, it is up to me to keep everyone together. Sky knights have been helping in the rebuilding of their terras as there have been no dangers to fight off for the last few days. Well, a few pesky night crawlers and talons here and there but now they are all in hiding, probably plotting. But we can't waist our remaining resources running after them. We're hanging in there I suppose.

Starling out"

In the Far Side of Atmos

A ship engulfed in smoke leaving a trail in the skies behind it was dashing nearly nose first into a mountaintop. Inside the ship, a squadron of six teens and sounding alarms. "JUNKO, FINN, PULL THE CANNONS BACK IN!" the red head sky night Aerrow yelled through the alarms to the strongman and the wingman while gripping tightly to the rail in the bridge. "STORK! TRY TO LEVEL THE CONDOR, WE'RE GOING DOWN AND GAINING TO MUCH SPEED!" another order came from the sky knight. "Aerrow! We lost them!" a golden-eyed girl said while retracting a telescope to which a nerve racked pilot responded with intensity "We may have lost THEM but we're also about to loose the CONDOOOOR!" The six of them now were all hanging on for dear life to what ever was in reach and braced them selves for the incoming impact. BANG! The Condor bounced once as the pilot Stork managed to level the Condor's nose at the last minute, however this was not enough to stop the coming disaster. POW! Another loud noise as the Condor bounced a second time resulting in loosing many pieces of armor along with a propeller. And finally, KABANG! The ship impacted for the last time before skidding another two hundred yards and leaving a scar in the mountaintop's earth and PING! As the wrecked ship hit a bolder, putting an end to the Condor's wild ride.

It was quiet. Even more smoke was now rising from what was left of the carrier ship. The only thing to be heard was a slight breeze whispering in the air passing over the Condor.

Inside the ship was no better. It was dark, smoky and cluttered with broken equipment, glass and other materials along with the six unconscious bodies each spread out all over the bridge. It was two hours before a small scatter in the room by a silvery long eared creature desperately looking for its leader. It was Radarr. He let out a few low chirps hoping to receive a response. He continued roaming the room when he heard a groan fallowed by a cough. Radarr ran to the source of the noise knowing it was Aerrow. At Aerrow's side, the anxious creature snuggled his soft head under the knight's hand and gave him a nudge with his nose. "Ra…Radarr?" asked the battered redhead. "Hey buddy, you all right?" he said as he slowly pulled himself up. Radarr replied with a cheerful squawk only to see Aerrow grab his throbbing and bleeding head. "Ow. What in the world just happened?" Aerrow began to slowly realize the state of his surroundings. "Ah Crap! Guys?" he yelled out as he rushed him self up only to be brought back down by a sharp shooting pain through his upper torso. He gasped in pain as he was now on his knees looking straight into the floor in shock. What was this? This couldn't be good. He took a deep breath and forced himself to straighten up in order to have a look at the cause of the pain. What he saw almost made him loose consciousness again. A piece of metal was peering out of him like a dagger. He actually didn't quite know what it was as it was both covered in blood and it was dark in the room. His shirt felt damp around the wounded area and he figured it was probably more blood. A rumble in the background caught Aerrow's attention, it was "Junko!" and he crawled over to the wakening wallop. Greeting the redhead with a loud yawn, he then asked "Aerrow? Where are we? Wha…What's going on?" "That's what I'd like to know. I think we may have crashed when we tried to escape that cyclonian ship. That's all I can rememberAAH!" The pain interrupted him again. "Are you all right?" "I'll be fine. Hold on a sec." Aerrow turned around, took a deep breath and on 1,2,3! He pulled out the bloodied shard of metal from his body. "Gahhh!" the young sky knight clutched at his wound and turned back to his friend who was now looking at him with a worried look on his face. "C'mon, we have to help the others, are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine" it took a lot just to simply bruise a wallop. Radarr was already ahead of them to look for the others. The little sky lemur found a delicate brown toned hand popping out of the rubble. Radarr squawked as he heard a faint groan. "Piper!" Aerrow rushed to her side completely ignoring the pain in his upper abdomen and throbbing in his head. He had to see Piper and nothing would stop him! " Piper! Piper. Please! Wake up!" he urged as he held her hand and brushed some dust off of her scratched face. "mmmm…" came out a low moan from the dazed navigator. "We're right here, Pi" he responded in relief to hear her awaking. Still holding her slender hand he was caught off guard as she suddenly opened her sunset orange eyes "Aerrow? Wha-" "Shhhh, it's ok, take it easy." She slowly pulled herself up and clung on her bloodied leader "Aerrow! Why are you all, what is this?" "It's fine Piper, I'll be fi-" "Your covered in blood!" "Yeah, I know but what about you? Are you ok?" he tried to get Piper to stop worrying and possibly worsen her own condition. "I'm ok I guess…a little soar." Aerrow suddenly realized he was still holding on to her hand. Piper fallowed his gaze and noticed their two hands in one another "Guys! I found Finn!" yelled out the joyful wallop, stopping the awkward moment that was to come in between the navigator and sky knight. "Aw man! What the JUNKO! I…CAN'T…BREATH!" the blond sharpshooter changed his train of words as he was suddenly being crushed by his not so gentle giant friend's hug. "Oh! Sorry!" Junko released Finn to let him catch his breath. "Finn! You ok?" " It depends on your definition of 'ok' " The banged up wingman replied to his leader.

They were now five. Where was their pilot? That question was answered soon enough. From a corner near the bridge's windows came a voice saying, "We're doomed, we're doomed, we're doomed…" "Stork!" the five teens yelled out in surprised and relieved. As they walked up to the trembling merb Piper asked "Stork? How long have you been awake and laying there?" to which Stork opened one big yellow eye "I'm not sure." Aerrow lent him a hand for him to get up "how you feeling?" "I'm…I'm ok…" the terrified pilot replied vaguely, probably in shock. "NOOOOOO! MY FACE!" came an overly dramatic scream from behind them. They all turned to the source of the girlish scream only to find Finn staring into a large piece of glass. "Finn, it's just a scratch!" replied an annoyed Piper. "YOUR FACE? WHAT ABOUT MY SHIP! IT'S RUINED!" cut in an angry Stork. "It's ok Finn, girls love scars!" Junko replied trying to cheer up the blond pretty boy. "They do?" Finn asked in a high-pitched voice with big rounded eyes. "Guys!" Aerrow said, "We need toAH! Crap..," He grabbed is freshly bleeding wound. The team looked with worry at their hurting knight. "We won't get any better by worrying over Finn's face! Aerrow, sit down" Piper helped Aerrow down slowly. "It's getting cold in here, we have all the windows busted and we are at the top of a mountain! We need to find anything that could start a fire for the night and patch up the windows." The navigator took charge seeing as her leader was just not in a good shape to be in the leader position. This was going to be a long night.

In the Southern Far Side: In the royal cyclonian palace. 

In a large echoing room painted of rich reds, purples and golden large gothic windows and French door frames stood a slender dark green haired prince at one of the windows, absorbing the sun's last light before nightfall. His sunset watch was interrupted by the two large doors opening, inviting in a man dressed dark green and red, sporting a brighter red crow insignia in his armor covered chest. "Master Lucas" the man said, "I have come to deliver today's border patrol report" and stopped half way through the room. "Speak then" the prince responded not moving even his gaze. "Our border patrol has not detected any threat. The Eastern border patrol was clear with the exception of a small riot lead by three resistance rebels, two of which have been executed publicly and the third rebel still has not been found. The western border, cleared. As for the northern border, their has been a chase after an unidentified ship, it was eliminated." The messenger ended. "Are you sure that ship was not one of our own in training? Or one of our deliveries? After all, the northern border is where the shipments come in." The prince replied as he turned around to face the man. The man forced to make eye contact with the prince's purple set of piercing orbs responded "No sir, this was some kind of old fashion battleship, a kind not recognized by our armies." "Hem, perhaps they were just rebels as well. Thank you, carry on now." The prince Lucas turned back to the window and added "Oh! And please let my sister know I am ready to see her" "yes sir" the messenger bowed and exited the room. Not long after came in a dark haired girl dressed in a black laced, deep purple dress accompanied by two night crawlers at her sides. "Hello sister" he turned to see Master Cyclonis walking towards him and threw her arms around him as he did around her. "Welcome back Lark, it has been so long." "Oh Lucas, I've missed you and thank you" she replied as they pulled apart and both of their purple eyes meeting, his lighter then hers. "What happened to you? You look so exhausted! And is this a scar I see on your lip?" "Uck! I was so close Lucas! But those, those BASTARD kids! GAH! They ruined everything!" "Now now, calm down, Lark." "Humph! It doesn't matter now anyways, they're on the other side, and I closed the portal behind me." Cyclonis remembered about a week ago the event, from being so close to victory to loosing her most trusted right hand man Dark Ace and having to cower through the portal. "It's ok, they can have their own little laws and government for now but they'll only loose again when we'll have all the plans ready for action. Then we'll pay them a visit!" he replied to his stressed out sister with a hand on her shoulder. "I failed Lucas! And now I have to go to you for help and the rest of the family!" "Lark, grandmother gave a little girl a whole kingdom to rule! You weren't ready! You were only 12 when she died and it was all passed down to you, not to mention it was still in development of both territory and army wise. Besides, we couldn't bring our technology to the atmos kingdom and you came this far with out it! Imagine how easy it'll be WITH our technology!" "Yes, if only we could figure out a way to expand the portals…" Cyclonis responded completely unaware of the fact that her enemy Piper had already figured this out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Night Terror**

It was cold. It was uncomfortable and of course, this wasn't planned. Being stranded on a mountaintop in a new world that they barely started to discover along with no connections or acquaintances was the last thing they needed. And to top it all off, their sky knight, their leader and the best fighter of the group was weakening.

A squadron of six lay in a circle each trying to absorb whatever heat they could from a dimming fire they surrounded in inside the Condor's cockpit. One of them in particular was having a hard time maintaining his own body temperature. "Aerrow? How are you doing?" Piper laid a gentle hand on the shivering knight's arm. Her worry grew even more when she felt a slight shaking accompanied with a shocking low body temperature zapping her at the touch. "Mmm?" is all he said as he turned to his worried navigator, mage. She was so many things, a best friend, a nurse when the boys would get to rough, a good fighter, smart...pretty. Right now however, she was a worried and caring friend. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw his face in the dim light. He was pale and his rich emerald eyes we're now dull when they were once full of life, courage and enthusiasm. Now, they were filled with pain and exhaustion. She immediately got up to kneel beside him. "Oh no!" "Piper, what's wrong?" "You! Your wound, I think it's infected. You're going into septic shock!" she said anxiously yanking off his blanket and pulling up his top. He barely had time to process what was going on. First he was slowly fading away into sleep and the next thing he knew Piper was pulling his shirt up almost over his face! "What are you doing?" being pushed back down on his back "Stay still!" she replied trying to keep him from moving. She reached for her stone pouch and found inside it exactly what she needed. A small piece of a solarist crystal. All she needed to do was to clang it on the wall twice and before they knew it, the whole room was illuminated; it's light out brightening the fire's. She set the glowing stone down and with better vision, could examine the wound. Taking off the bandage, it didn't take a doctor to notice the wound was indeed infected. "Crap" she let out. "We're going to have to disinfe-" "GUYS! Seriously? What is going onoh!" A wining, awoken Finn who was now looking at them in confusion interrupted Piper. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked as he saw what was before him, Aerrow laying down with his top rolled up with Piper almost on top of him (as she was examining the wound) with a hand holding him down. "Oh good you're awake! Go get the first aide kit!" "Is he ok?" he ignored Piper's order "Yeah Finn, I'm fine" replied Aerrow but soon contradicted by Piper "No you're not! Finn! First aide kit. Now!" Finn jumped over Junko who was in a deep sleep to head for the kit. It took a lot just to wake a wallop. Aerrow dropped his head back down and smacked his face with his hand and let out a small complaining and tired moan. "What?" Piper turned her head to look at Aerrow. "Nothing…Well, everything... I don't know." He replied. That was it, everything. They just fought a war, they are now in a new world that they know nothing about, now shipwrecked and lost, his health low and unable to fight… It was all so much, not to mention they were only in their late teen years, with the exception of Stork who was in his early twenties. "Everything is going to be fine, at least, that's what you always say" she responded with a small smile and a giggle, trying to cheer up her friend. "We didn't make it this far for nothing right?" she continued to keep the hopes up. "I got it" Finn said as he entered the room again and handed the kit to Piper. "Thanks Finn" "Yeah. Hey what time is it?" "Probably about midnight" She answered and opened the kit, taking out a cloth and a small bottle of alcohol. "Oh, ok, do you need help with him?" the blond offered. "Em, actually yeah. Hold him still for me." "Wait, what?" Jumped in Aerrow wondering why he would need to be held down. "Why?" Finn also wondered. "Sorry Aerrow but I have to disinfect this right now. The infection is spreading!" "Don't you have a healing or repairing crystal, you know, that little green stone you used when I was in a cast?" the redhead asked going a bit into a panic. "If I did, I would have used it before the infection developed itself! Cyclonis stole it, remember? Besides, even if I did still have it, all it would do would repair the skin and other tissues and trap the infection inside at this point." "Why didn't we get another one exactly?" The wingman interrupted. "Because they are extremely rare and I didn't feel like running from a giant again!" She replied becoming slightly irritated. "Ok, let's just get it over with." The weakening sky knight prepared himself. As Piper pored the disinfectant on a cloth, Finn kneeled down and held lightly Aerrow's shoulders down to keep him on his back. "Sorry buddy" "It's ok Finn" Aerrow replied as he knew Finn was just helping. "Ok, 1,2,3" Piper counted then applied the soaked cloth on the wound. Aerrow winced at the deep, sharp pain and tightened his jaw and fists trying to keep his scream to not wake the others or possibly attract any attention from whatever could be out there. He was breathing heavily, trying to push away the pain that shot through his torso. This was almost just as painful for Piper who was at the moment causing him even more discomfort. "There! This should help a little. We'll just bandage you up and we'll all be able to sleep, hopefully." Then she pulled out a new bandage and started covering up the wound. At this point, all Aerrow wanted to do was pass out. "Th…thanks guys" he managed to let out. "Try to get some rest now" and Finn and Piper went back to their spots around the small fire.

It was only two hours after the three fell asleep with their other teammates when a strange feel of a presence suddenly alerted Radarr. It wasn't a familiar presence either. He through his long silver ears up and popped his out of his tucked position. Not wanting to alert anyone incase it was just a deer, he crawled out of his little spot and made his way to one of the holes in the window. He let his head out first and peeked around while also sniffing the cold air. While his eyes saw nothing, his nose said something different. Then he heard a faint CRACK from the dark forest only a few yards away, which was partly surrounding the Condor. He zeroed all his senses on one specific area and quickly wished he hadn't. His yellow eyes met a pair of glowing saucers peering out of the shadowy woods fallowed by a giant set of teeth slowly unraveling themselves.

A high-pitched screech was getting louder and louder as Radarr was running back to his team in absolute panic! "What the!?" Everyone suddenly awoke to this distressed scream. "Is that Radarr?" Aerrow asked in total confusion. POW! Radarr ran in at full speed into his leader. "RADARR! What's wrong with you?" Aerrow sat back up holding his little copilot who seemed to have been petrified. All of the squadron was now on high alert, despite the fact that three of them were pretty much sleep deprived after patching up their leader. "What is it Radarr?" Junko asked crouching to level with the furry little critter. Radarr didn't even bother to play charades, as he was to scared to even uncurl from his fetal position. But with a trembling finger, he pointed to outside. "Oh no! There's something out there isn't there?" Stork and continued "I don't know if any of my repellents are gonna be useful against these Far Side creatures!" "Calm down Stork" Aerrow told Stork as he saw the merb starting to hyperventilate. "CALM DOWN? WE are almost defenseless and there could be a hungry beast or a pack of wild track beasts roaming around us and plotting how to separate us and chase us down one by one! Hugh* Hugh*…We could be doo-" The terrified carrier pilot was cut off by a loud, low tone growling noise coming from outside the ship, paralyzing with fear the whole squadron. "Guys… stay calm and slowly grab your weapons." Aerrow ordered almost in a whispering voice. When they all grabbed their weapons, they slowly and cautiously made their way to the front windows of the bridge and each took a position beside them. Aerrow signaled 1,2,3 and they all jumped out the Condor in a fighting stance ready to defend themselves with their weapons now activated. "Where did it go?" Junko wondered and so did the others. With the light of their weapons, except for Stork, who had a… uhh…Pan, illuminated the part of the forest they were facing. "THERE!" Finn yelled out when he spotted a movement in the bushes and when they all flashed their lights on the source of the movement, they were in for a shock.

The lights from their weapons made a pair of giant reflective orbs appear from the darkness and the set of teeth appeared not long after. There was a loud HISSSSSSSS that accompanied the terrifying site. The team didn't know what to do other then just stare in fear. This made Aerrow completely forget about his pain and was ready to unleash a blast if that thing tried to attack. The mysterious creature took a step forward lowering it's head with it's teeth still exposed and through them came an other noise, a mix of a serpent's hiss and a dog's growl. They responded by a step back and raised their weapons straight at the beast. This was enough to shed enough light on the creature's face and unraveled horns and pale, neutral skin curled as the creature was bearing its teeth like a mad dog. They were now only about five yards of each other. Then, when the Storm Hawks were ready to have their first brawl with a Far Side animal, the creature stepped back into the darkness after examining the five armed beings and slowly faded away but not without a last monstrous HISSS.

"What…the hell…was that?" A now shaken blond sharpshooter asked.

Back in the Condor

The team was shaken! Shocked at what just happened out there! What ever that thing was, it was clearly bigger then Junko, perhaps even almost three times his size just from what they saw! It spooked them, yet it didn't bother hurting them. What was it doing? What did it want? Were they simply just in its territory? This was like no beast from their side of the atmos. However, there was something about it though. The way it stared at them. It felt almost…humanoid.


	3. Chapter 3

**I hope this chapter will show some improvements :) I tried to fallow some tips from some reviewers which I really appreciated :) Hope you guys enjoy!**

Storm Hawks

Far Side Fray

Chapter 3: The Watch

A shaky blond sat outside the condor and watched his breath escape and mingle in cold air through his clanking jaws.

"Bur, why did I have to be first watcher?" He complained. "How could I possibly have a good aim when I'm f-freezing like this! How can I even shoot at all? I can't even feel my trigger finger!" He continued clearly not amused.

Inside the condor, the rest of the squadron was deciding who was going to have the next watch.

"I could go. After all, I'm probably the one who got the most sleep so far anyways."

Junko volunteered seeing as Stork was clearly in no mental shape to be alone, especially outside his beloved ship! And Aerrow was clearly not in the best physical shape to be alone out there with a beast roaming around. And as for Piper, she had to stay by Aerrow's side to keep an eye on him.

"Thanks Junko" replied the redhead. "Piper and I will have our turn after in half an hour."

And with this, the wallop nodded and left the room to take his turn and relieve Finn.

"Aerrow, are you sure? I really don't think it's best for you to be in the cold right now."

Piper asked her leader hoping he would just fall asleep.

"I'll be fine Piper. I'm already starting to feel better. Well, kind of. "

He tried to reassure her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Fine, but I'm not leaving you out of my site. I don't know what's worst, your infection or that thing out there."

To this Aerrow chuckled and replied, "Besides, there's no way I'm going to sleep after what we just saw."

"F-Finally! Warmth!" Finn popped in the room with his hands tucked under his arms and shaking.

"Anything while you were out there?" Aerrow asked his half frozen wingman.

"Nope! Not even a sound. Why can't Stork go out there? It would give us each a little more time to rest." Finn asked turning to the merb with an unimpressed look on his face.

"Uh, have you seen Stork? He's just like that time when the condor was eaten whole by that leviathan! We'll be lucky if he doesn't go mad and attract more attention to us in doing so." The navigator explained with a slight attitude to which the blond rolled his eyes and laid down with his back to what was left of the fire.

Half an hour passed and Junko came back in the condor, now frozen as well. Sure wallops had thick skin, however, being in high altitudes on a mountaintop, the winds can be quite harsh and can create biting frost! "I'm b-back. Y-your turn." The wallop stuttered.

"Anything?" asked the sky knight.

"Just a little rabbit that ran by."

"Alright then, lets get this over with." Piper got up and landed a hand to Aerrow.

Aerrow and Piper both sat on the condor's roof back to back to each other for a better view. "How are you holding up, Aerrow?" "Ok for now." He replied and kept watch.

"Hey Piper?"

"Mmm?"

"You always look after us, ask how we are. Can I ask you something?"

"What is it Aerrow?" she asked as she slightly twisted herself to see her sky knight.

Aerrow replied as he turned his head to face her, "Well, how are you?"

"Um, fine I guess? Wait why?"

"I've just been a little worried about you, you know, ever since you got sick off the binding."

"Oh…yeah, that. Well, I mean, I'm still regaining some of my strength back but I feel a lot better though."

"Ok, glad to know that. But please, don't practice when I'm not around."

"I won't. Besides, I don't think I have the strength yet."

After half an hour, they decided to climb back in the condor with the others. It was almost three in the morning and at this point, they just wanted to sleep, beast stocking them or not.

When they were back in the condor, they found all there teammates sound asleep, curled around the fire leftover. "Let's just go to bed." Aerrow suggested, "I think whatever was out there probably also fell asleep."

"Yeah" The tired navigator agreed and rubbed her eyes.

"Good night Piper"

"You too"

They found a spot around the last remaining warmth, closed their eyes and let the rest of the dark hours pass by.


	4. Chapter 4

Storm Hawks

Far Side Fray

Chapter 4: They Are Myths!

"Alright Junko, what do we have?" Aerrow asked his strongman.

"Only three of the skimmers are working, the other ones are pretty banged up."

"Finn, what's your count?" The sky knight turned to his wingman.

"One of the two blaster cannons should be just fine, the other one on the other hand is pretty messed up and it would be pretty useless anyways considering the angle of the condor." He replied with a wrench in his hand.

"Hem, I hope Piper's numbers are a little higher." He then turned to head out of the bridge and made his way to the crystal mage's lab. When he arrived, he found a blue haired girl on her knees surrounded by crystals, papers and journals scattered all over the floor.

"Hey Pi." Piper jumped at the voice. She had a habit of getting so caught up in her work.

"Oh! Hey Aerrow" She looked up at her leader leaning against the doorframe.

"How's your count going?" He asked hopeful.

"We have two cases of fuel crystals for the skimmers, all our engine crystals are pretty useless since the power is down, we have two nimbus and three rainbow smoke crystals if we need to make a run for it and only enough ammo crystals for three rounds on the cannons." She listed.

"Ok then. Let's head back to the bridge and see what we can do with what we've got."

Back to the bridge, the six gathered around ready for directions. "Alright guys, this is what we're going to do. Junko and Radarr, you guys will stay here with Stork to keep watch and help in some repairs. We'll leave you guys the two nimbus crystals incase you need to make a run for it if the cyclonians decide to return for us. You only have enough ammo for three rounds." Junko and Stork nodded in response to their leader along with a chirp from Radarr. "Finn, you'll come with me and Piper in search of help. Everyone's good with this?"

"Em, I think were missing one crucial element here." A merb jumped in.

"What is it Stork?" Piper asked.

"Communication." Stork was right. Their communication tools were damaged and the condor's power was down so it wouldn't be able to contact the skimmers' (which they stole from Cyclonia just before they left to the Far Side) radio.

"Oh, right." Piper realized.

"Listen guys, this is just a chance we'll have to take. We can't all just stay stranded here. We've taken risks before, this is an other one." Aerrow assertively responded. He knew this was a big risk but he couldn't let anxiety take over or it could be the death of them all. It was only a matter of time before the cyclonians who took them down would come back to investigate or even that beast again. If none of these scenarios would finish them, then it would be the harsh climate on this mountaintop. As strange as this seemed, if they separated, their odds of survival would increase.

Meanwhile, in the southern cyclonian palace

A cloaked girl was roaming the halls with only her steps to be herd echoing. She walked fast as if she was in a hurry, which she had a good reason be. There was a certain well known explorer and ex-ally waiting to be in her presence.

As she was hurryingly making her way to the meeting hall, she was joined by a young man, "Lark, you never told me you sent a friend to this side of the Atmos let alone that he was a famous explorer." He spoke as they were now walking side by side. "That's because I never sent him! I didn't even think he was still alive after he was left in that crumpling temple by Snipe!" She answered back as they stopped in front of two large main doors. "Well if he came to us again, it just goes to show how loyal he is" the young man, Lucas, suggested. "Pff! Either that or he just wants a share." She instantly replied.

Cyclonis opened the two doors, as she walked in, the whole room went quiet with only a few whispers escaping. She walked through the bowing meeting councilors and soon was face to face with a familiar scruffy, blond, blue-eyed man with a smirk on his face.

"What are you smiling about, Domiwick?" Cyclonis asked in slight annoyance.

"Well, master, maybe it's the fact that I know something you don't." He replied in high confidence and his smirk growing into a grin.

"Oh? And what could this be?" the prince, Lucas, jumped in with curiosity.

Domiwick turned to one of the room's large windows "You may wonder how I got here, the Far Side. Well, what if I told you those little portals of yours were not the first ways invented to cross to the other side?"

"Where are you going with this?" Cyclonis asked in now wonder. Were her ancestors not the ones who held the secret to cross to the other side? Who could have found a way before them and remained undiscovered?

"Where I'm going with this is, I could show you, Cyclonis, these ancient, secret tunnels!"

"Secret tunnels? Surely these secrets would have been passed down to us if they were our ancestors'." Lucas said with a hand to his chin. This fascinated him. This fascinated everyone in the room! Whispers between the meeting members and councilors were now almost overwhelming the room.

"SILENCE!" the dark haired girl ordered.

Domiwick took the chance to continue, "Knowledge of these tunnels were not passed down to you because they did not belong to your ancestors. They belonged to someone else. Tell me, have you ever herd of the Ancient Ones? Also known as the Advanced Kind? Or Higher ones? They go by a few names actually."

"HA! They are myths!" An elder member of the meeting spat out.

"Yes, I do actually. They are said to have been the founders of many ancient temples, including The Forbidden City. Go on." Cyclonis replied.

"Well, these tunnels had very similar traits to these temples."

"Hold on, how did you come across all of this?" Cyclonis asked now very intrigued.

"Heheh! Well, we could say that the Storm Hawks had a little something to do with it. I was caught by the Neck Deeps and was forced to stay within the Storm Hawks site while they helped them in terra Aquinos. I escaped and found my way into an underwater cave, which lead me to these strange tunnels and found my way to the Far Side of the Atmos."

"Unbelievable." Responded the prince now fascinated.

"I am willing to show you these tunnels if you really think it unbelievable"

"Humph! You're willing to show us these tunnels just like that? What's your catch?" She asked in suspicion.

"Supply me with my own workers and equipment."

"I will supply you with a hundred workers and slaves, as for the equipment, I'll see what my brother's army can spare."

"Fine, this should be enough" the explorer replied.

"Why exactly do you need all of this instead of just asking for a rich payment?" Lucas asked. Anyone else would have just simply asked for money or a share of whatever they would find or win. So why didn't Domiwick?

"Because, all the money I'd get would end up being spent on what I just asked for. Might as well just asked for it right?" Domiwick explained.

"Alright then, I'll see what we can spare in exchange for your knowledge. For now, be at home. You are a most welcomed guest." Lucas invited the explorer and rehired ally.

With Lucas's last words, he and Cyclonis left the room leaving all the meeting members and councilors in wonder. These mysterious tunnels, how could they have remained undiscovered? Could it really be that the ancient ones or advanced kind or Higher ones really did exist and not just a theory or a myth? What exactly were they? No, maybe the tunnels were just made by an older civilization many in the room told themselves. Why would they be hidden? So many questions flooded the room. This was serious. How could everyone have missed this? Cyclonis was not about to let this go.

4

4 


	5. Chapter 5

ALL RIGHTY! Finally done this chapter! I wasn't fully satisfied with this chapter but after revising it and editing, I liked it :) It took me forever just to get around to upload it but I have done it now :) Enjoy! plz leave reviews!

Storm Hawks

Far Side Fray

Chapter 5: Twas The White Devil You Saw!

Three skimmers were up in the skies and their riders fighting the nipping cold winds. If they didn't find help soon, either they would freeze in midair or the skimmers' wings would collect ice and block up. Just when the leader was about to call back his friends and turn around, the skimmer's radio spoke a familiar voice and it seemed quite joyful.

"Hey guys! I see something in my direction! I think…I think it's a town!" expressed the blond rider through his radio.

"We're coming your way, Finn." Aerrow responded. Finally! After almost two hours of cold, endless searching in the skies.

Two skimmers joined the one who's rider spotted the town. "Guys, Wait! We should go on the ground from this point. We don't know if flying would attract any unwanted attention." Piper advised. She had a good point. They knew nothing of this part of the Atmos. It was best to keep a low cover until they learned more.

The three landed their rides about a mile away from the town and from there they continued their way. When they arrived inside the town, they parked the skimmers and looked around. There was something odd about this town. Now that they were actually in it, they could see that the buildings were not houses or shops but more like shacks and cabins. They realized this was some kind of working site. Mining perhaps? Maybe they were in the process of building a town, yet who would want to live around here except for Blizzarians. Were their any Blizzarians on this side of the Atmos?

"Well, let's go see if we can't get anyone to help us or at least get directions." Aerrow said and started walking.

"Or even just some warmth for a little moment." Piper replied and fallowed her sky knight.

"Or some food." Added a shivering Finn.

The three walked deeper into the town and when all seemed just too quiet, voices could be herd from inside one of the buildings. They fallowed the voices to its source and they were now standing outside a long cabin, which looked like a gathering hall. They peeped inside one of the windows and saw a group of men and women in what resembled the style of cyclonian work suites and all seem to be having a good time, laughing loudly, clinging their drink filled mugs together and some seem to be arm wrestling.

"Is this… a bar?" Finn asked in confusion.

"Maybe these workers are on break." Piper tried to figure out what this place was.

Aerrow turned to his two teammates with his famous grin "If they ask, we're nineteen."

"Aerrow, are you crazy? We can't just go in a bar! In the middle of nowhere! With people we don't know anything about!" Piper kept on adding.

"If we go by our real age and name, we could blow our cover. Even if they don't know anything about us, I don't want to take a risk. Besides, if we let them know our real age, won't they think it's kind of odd that three seventeen year olds randomly found themselves here?"

"Fine. But we can't spend to much time in there." Piper agreed to go ahead with Aerrow's plan.

"Sweet!" came from the blond sharpshooter anxious to get inside and possibly have a chance at getting food.

When the three walked in, the room went quiet and were stared at in shock by the people in the bar. They completely forgot in what state they were. The three were covered in cuts and bruises from the crash, had oil and some blood stains on their clothing, they seemed starved and Aerrow was still pale from his infection not to mention they were also covered in frost.

One, quite well built, scruffy man put his mug down, stood up and walked over to the three strangers as he looked at them from head to toe in wonder and confusion. Where did they come from?

"Can I help you lads?" the larger man asked.

"Uh, hi." Aerrow responded, slightly intimidated.

"You lost?"

"Well, a little bit yeah. My friends and I were wondering if we could get some help."

"Hem, sure, but first sit down a bit, you guys look like you could use some rest. Tell me, where d'you guys come from exactly?" The men asked curious of these three young lads.

"Thanks, but we can't stay for to long, the rest of us stayed behind while we went out for help." Piper jumped in and tried to avoid giving out to much information about them selves. She had a real bad feeling about this place and didn't want to stay any longer then they had to.

"The rest of yas? What do you mean? What are you talking about?" The man wanted to know more as he found this pretty strange.

"Well, you see, it's kind of a long story-"

"Long story short, we were attacked and our carrier crash landed about a day ago in the mountains." Finn interrupted his leader. "Finn!" Piper scolded him. This was more information they were supposed to let out until they got to know these people.

"Wait a minute, who are you guys?" A woman spoke out.

"I'm Aer-Atos!" Aerrow caught himself before he revealed his real name and continued "And this is Lila and Jake."

"Well, Atos, since you guys are lost, I bet you don't know much about this area. I hope you didn't leave your other friends unarmed back in those mountains."

"What do you mean?" Aerrow asked growing worried.

"The white devil." A voice from the back of the room answered. Everyone turned to an older man who was sitting at the end of the bar's counter, looking into his mug. "She will finish them." He continued and turned to face the three lost youngsters in the now deathly silent crowd. As he did, Aerrow, Piper and Finn were shocked at the site of a massive scar on the old man's face. "Just like she finished my brother and I's crew." He added.

"I'm Sorry?" Piper was trying to fallow what this mysterious man was telling them.

"We were eight men! Only one came out alive and it was I. She is a beast, that white devil." The scarred man finished.

"And who is this guy?" Finn asked in the larger man's ear.

"This is old Rick. That violent monster attacked him along with his brother and his mining expedition crew. This beast, the white devil is said to be a deathly omen to the men who try to venture into its territory. We don't know exactly what it is in those mountains, but we know it doesn't want us there. Even here, we've been terrorized. Our numbers have diminished over the past year."

"So, why are you guys still here then?" Aerrow asked.

"We were ordered. It's our work. Our mining company is in direct alliance with the Cyclonian Empire and there is nothing that will stop us from helping our masters. We owe them a lot actually!"

"Cyclonians?" Finn whispered to Piper.

"Uh oh, I knew there was something wrong about this place." She whispered back.

This was just great, not only was there a murderous monster out there that could be hunting down the rest of his squadron but they were now surrounded by cyclonian allies. Aerrow could feel Finn and Piper grow uneasy. He himself was very uncomfortable and anxious however he had to keep in character and not panic.

"Em, this was a great chat but we should really get back to the rest of our friends, you know, especially with that thing out there." Aerrow tried to excuse himself and started to walk away until a large, strong hand stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

"Hold on a sec! You guys just got here. And what about the help ya needed? And you still haven't answered some of my questions. Where are you guys from? And what are you exactly? You must be pretty important if you guys had a carrier ship." The man insisted on knowing about them. He knew there was something odd about these three.

"Uh, nope! We're no one important. We only have a carrier because uh…em"

"Because we're nomads!" Piper jumped in to try and save her friend who was cracking under the pressure.

" Oh really eh? So you're some kind of gypsy then. You have your own rules eh? The bigger man continued asking now putting one fist into his other hand. Aerrow took a step back.

"Not quite…um" the red head tried to respond but didn't know what to say.

What's with the weapons? They look like older war weapons." A woman asked. They were all growing suspicious of the trio.

"Oh these old things? Um, we found them and as nomads, we need a way to defend our selves right?" Finn tried to help.

"Yeah, defend against cyclonians. And that insignia of yours doesn't represent any of the cyclonian empire's branches either!" The man said as he tugged on the metal hawk Aerrow had on his back.

"Um, that's a uh… aw crap." Aerrow couldn't come up with anything and knew with every question, they sunk deeper into suspicion by the cyclonian allies.

"I think we should go now." Piper suggested and as she turned to head for the door, she bumped in another man's large chest as he was blocking the way to the exit. Soon, the miners surrounded the three.

"Oh no." she said.

"You know what I think?" This second large man said as he grabbed the petite navigator by the wrists. "You guys have a ship of your own, you got weapons no longer used in the cyclonian armies, you're each wearing the same insignia not representing any branches of the cyclonian Empire and an entirely different style. I think you guys are rebels!" he said as he tightened his grip on Piper's arms, making her hold back a small yelp.

"Leave her alone!" Aerrow screamed as he tried to make a run towards her but was yanked back by the same man who stopped him earlier and was thrown to the floor. When he tried to get back up he was pushed back down by a heavy boot to his abdomen, this causing him to let out a scream of pain.

"GAAAH!" He was instantly reminded of his wound by the searing pain coming from his torso.

"Aerrow!" Piper tried to get loose from the solid grips almost crushing her wrists.

"Get off of him!" Finn jumped on the man holding his friend down until two others pulled him off.

"Do you know what we do to rebels, boy?" The scruffy bigger man said as he grabbed the redhead by the collar. "We execute them or use them as live bate for the White Devil!" he continued as he brought Aerrow closer to his face.

The three were dragged out the cabin and thrown to the ground. The rest of the miners fallowed and surrounded them.

"Aerrow, what are we going to do?" Piper asked almost in panic.

"If we want a chance to make it back to the others, there's only one thing to do." He responded and drew his weapons and slightly winced in pain from his wound.

"Ha! You think you three can take all of us? Look at you!" the man laughed at them.

"Piper! Now!" Aerrow ordered and with that, Piper through one of the rainbow smoke crystals to the ground. This caused a large enough cloud of smoke, giving them enough time to run through the crowd.

"GET THEM!" the man yelled.

"Quick, lets find our skimmers and get out of here!" Piper said as she tried to run at full speed while almost dragging Aerrow by the arm.

"Uh oh!" Finn said as he stopped abruptly. "We need to find an other way to our rides!" he pointed out some miners who found a way around to block their way.

"This way!" Piper spotted a possible exit in between other cabins and yanked Aerrow with her as she turned. However, when they thought they had a way out, the three were blindsided and lead to a dead end by the angry miners. Aerrow, Piper and Finn were now side by side with there weapons raised and realized they were cornered. The cyclonian allies now pointing their gun staffs at them. Aerrow was trying to focus his energy to form the lightning claw attack but the searing pain in his torso made it almost impossible to breath right and ground himself. Piper was still to weak to use the binding and Finn could only do so much with his crossbow when he was surrounded by almost thirty enemies. This can't be the end! What about the others? They thought to themselves.

Piper had a sudden flashback of when she and Aerrow were hanging on to their lives at the top of Cyclonia's tower. She remembered something that Aerrow said which always stuck to her ever since. "If we're going down, we're going down together."

It couldn't be over! She was loosing herself in her thoughts until she was brought back to reality by a loud explosion behind the angry crowd of miners. Everyone turned to see the source of the loud noise. Everyone went quiet and smoke started to rise. They all started to look around to see the cause of this.

"Up there!" one man pointed beyond the smoke to a strange figure on top of one of the taller cabins. In a blink of an eye, it was gone.

"Alright, lets find the bastard who's wasting our dynamite!" The bigger man charged his staff.

"You five! Keep an eye on them, the rest, come with me!" he ordered.

The three Storm Hawks were left with the five men, two of them looking out incase that figure showed up again and the other three with their staffs raised at them.

"We can take' em!" Aerrow said as he was about to charge at one of them until they all started falling down one at a time, each letting out a yelp as they fell to the floor.

"What the?" the three asked them selves and saw a small throwing knife imbedded in each of the five men.

"Or we could just leave it up to that guy up there." Finn said as he pointed to the figure who reappeared on top of another cabin. The figure just stood there and looked at them until the voices of the other miners were heard coming back. The mysterious figure whirled around and ran off.

"Hey! Wait!" Aerrow called out.

"There's no time Aerrow! Let's go before they come back!" Piper pulled him by the arm and the three ran off. When they found their rides, they jumped on them just on time as they were spotted again.

"They're running away! Get them!"

They roared their engines and took flight before the crowd of cyclonian allies caught up to them and headed back to where they left the rest of their squadron.

7

7

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